Julie Swann, co-director of
the Center for Health and Humanitarian Logistics within the H. Milton Stewart
School of Industrial and Systems Engineering, has been named the Harold R. and
Mary Anne Nash Professor, effective July 1.

Julie Swann, co-director of
the Center for Health and Humanitarian Logistics within the H. Milton Stewart
School of Industrial and Systems Engineering, has been named the Harold R. and
Mary Anne Nash Professor, effective July 1.

The Nash professorship was
created through an endowment established by H. Ronald Nash (IE 1970), Deborah
Nash Harris (IE 1978) and Michael R. Nash (IE 1974), the children of Mary Anne
and Harold R. Nash (EE 1952), in honor of their parents.

Swann’s research focuses on developing
models and analytical methods to solve problems in logistics and supply chain
management and inform decisions in health systems and policymaking.

She is also developing
educational and outreach programs to governmental and non-governmental
organizations that are involved in planning for and responding to short- and
long-term humanitarian crises, such as the pandemic influenza.

“I am truly honored to have
been chosen for this professorship,” Swann said. “I am dedicated to
having a societal impact through health and humanitarian research, and I'm
delighted to partner with the Nash family in furthering these causes. Their
support will help further the role that operations research and industrial
engineering can have in improving society.”

Swann received her B.S. in
Industrial Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 1996 and her
M.S. and Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering and Management Sciences from
Northwestern in 1998 and 2001, respectively.

The Nash family has a
longstanding and deep connection to Georgia Tech, having had three generations
educated here and launched into successful careers.

“As children of Harold and
Mary Anne Nash it has been our pleasure to see all of the great work being done
at Georgia Tech in the field of humanitarian logistics,” Ron Nash said.
“This important area of study is poised to bring incredible benefits to those
people displaced in disasters as we learn how to become far more efficient in
getting the right resources to those who need them the most.”